Continue Your Climb

On my most recent trip to Denver I was asked by a friend if I would be willing to stay in Denver for an extra day and climb a "14er" with him before I left for Illinois.  I didn't even know what a "14er" was but the question was presented in such a way that it sounded to me like, "Hey, let's do lunch before you leave."  I immediately agreed and thought about how cool it would be to spend a couple hours climbing up to see the beautiful mountains and then spend the afternoon talking about the greatness of the experience we just shared.  I was so excited I even invited a couple of friends to join me.

However, after agreeing to climb I quickly learned that Mt. Elbert was the highest peak in Colorado and upon further research began to discover it may not be quite the walk in the park I had been considering.  Always up for a challenge, I was still excited to climb and looked forward to Friday.

On Friday we began our ascent at 5:45 AM with beautiful skies, great weather and good conversation.  However, within 15 minutes I began to realize that I our uphill walk was beginning to make me winded.  At that time if I had know I would be walking for nearly another five hours I would have made my way back to our car.  However I just keep going.  About 3.5 hours into the hike I strongly considered turning around but after a half hour of rest, some food, and encouragement from my friends I continued forward.  The closer I got to the summit the more I wanted to keep going and finally...I MADE IT!

On that beautiful day last Friday I could see for miles in every direction.  I became overwhelmed by the fact that before any one of the vast mountains in that range were created that God had thought about me and had a plan for my life.  Scriptures just came flying into my mind reminding me of the incredible glory of God.  It was worth every step of that journey to reach the top!

As I reflect on that day I cannot help but think that is a microcosm of our journey with Jesus Christ.  The invitation to our journey with Him is filled with excitement and eager expectation, but it is always accompanied with challenges.  Our world is filled with suffering, confusion, disappointment, heartache, and frustration but we are called to keep our eye on the goal and keep going.  It will be absolutely amazing when we meet Christ face to face in the fullness of His glory!

So regardless of your circumstances, keep going forward with Jesus.  Maybe you need some rest, encouragement or more time alone with Him but continue to pursue Him.  You will meet Jesus sooner than you think and your pursuit of Him will be greatly rewarded.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, we must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with endurance the race set out for us,  keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Think of him who endured such opposition against himself by sinners, so that you may not grow weary in your souls and give up."  Hebrews 12:1-3